South Delta Storm girls fastpitch team peaked at the right time to place second at the recent Bantam "C" tournament held in Tsawwassen.
The weekend began well for the team with an early Saturday morning 16-5 win against an overmatched squad from Burnaby. Olivia Merritt's solid pitching earned her game MVP honours. The Chilliwack Benchwarmers were up next and the Storm put together their best hitting game of the season, crushing their opponents 18-7.
Jessie Lynes, with some great work behind the plate and some explosive hits, was the team MVP. Nicole Jahn, Emma White and Brittany O'Connell were also important offensive contributors.
Playing their third game of the day, the locals seem to run out of gas in a 91 loss to Port Coquitlam Blue. The lone bright spot of this game was the hitting of Ashley Hughes as she took home the MVP award.
Sunday was a new day with the Storm needing a win to assure themselves of a playoff spot.
The team's spirits were lifted by the return of Kirsten Dance from injury and the Storm rallied to beat the Vancouver Blue Thunder 12-8 in a hard fought game.
Nichelle Partridge, with some timely hitting and solid defence, was the game MVP. Other defensive standouts included catcher Jessie Minkus and Ashley Ives at first base.
Next up was a re-match with Poco in the semifinals and it was clear early in the game that South Delta was up for the challenge. With some key hits from Jenna Khara and stellar defensive play from Zoe Mydansky at third base, the Storm played arguably their best game of the season in an 8-4 victory.
The result put South Delta in the final against the Langley Bandits, one of the early favourites to prevail at next month's provincial championships.
The Storm started off strong, leading 3-1 after two innings, but eventually wilted under the relentless assault of the Bandit pitching and hitting.
The final score was 124 for Langley to give the Storm second place in the tournament.
Players unable to make the tournament included Alli Stevens, Devon McLean and Jessica Steinwand. Coaches, Craig Merritt and Dave Stevens thank Courtney Kromm who was called up from Pee Wee, along with all the parents, and Kim and Brian Lafond for putting together a great tournament.
